Tag Archives: tolleson union high school

The New Global Citizens team at Tolleson Union High School is continuing to actively advocate for the Global Women’s Water Initiative (GWWI). Team leaders Aneyssa, Malak, and Ronae, have worked hard to educate their campus and community about their project. They have held many successful fundraising and educational events, including an Awareness Week, a Documentary Night, and a Poetry Night. For the remainder of the school year, the team has come up with a new, creative idea to continue to educate their peers: an Instagram campaign!

Tolleson NGC is taking advantage of social media to educate more people about their sponsored project, the Global Women’s Water Initiative. The campaign, currently underway, encourages students to learn about GWWI through sharing pictures on Instagram. In the campaign, titled with the hashtag “#wateryoudoing,” participants are to take a picture with the NGC Instagram frame provided at the team’s lunchtime table, or with something New Global Citizens related. Then, participants are to post that picture on Instagram, captioned with a fact about the Tolleson team’s project, GWWI. Only photos tagging the Tolleson NGC Instagram (@tollesonngc) and including the hashtag #wateryoudoing are eligible for the contest. The participants must also challenge a friends to make a post for the contest, and the top 3 posts, determined by the number of likes, will win! The winners will be announces on Tuesday, March 31st, and will be awarded with awesome prizes.

This campaign is effective because it does two key things. First, it allows the team to extend their advocacy beyond their surrounding community, giving the potential to educate many more people through the power and reach of social media. Second, it not only encourages students to learn about GWWI, but it encourages them to take it upon themselves to spread information to their peers, giving every participant the agency to be a part of educating a community.

The second semester is in full swing for NGC teams all over the country, and, as usual, teams are trying to develop interesting ways to educate and raise funds for their global partner.

Hopefully, all teams are able to find strategies to raise awareness as well as simply have fun by knowing they are making a lasting change. Two teams, the Tolleson Union High School tram and Westwood High School team, have been able to fundraise while creatively teach their school on the Millennium Development Goals they and their global charity continue to tackle.

Tolleson Union High School’s NGC team ended their first semester with the wildly popular Poetry Night, where students perform musical pieces or recite poetry while the team raises money by selling merchandise, snacks, and charging a small admission fee. The Winter 2013 Poetry Night saw the highest turnout since the event’s creation in 2010 as over 80 students and teachers appeared to learn more about the Nirvanavan Foundation in India while also watching their peers on stage. Moving on from the success of their first semester, Tolleson NGC rang in the new semester with an Awareness Week to collect donations as well as further educate on the many issues the Nirvanavan Foundation combats while also telling students how their small donations and time spent listening helps create solutions for the children. Most recently, the team held a book sale to also raise funds, where students donated used books to be sold. By the looks of things, Tolleson NGC is having an excellent start so far, and the team is anticipating even more success, especially with their second Poetry Night and an Indian Culture Night.

Westwood High School’s NGC team is also doing well for itself. The team concluded the first semester educating and raising funds by hosting donut sales ever Wednesday and Thursday for about a month, which has been the team’s most successful strategy to fundraise as well as get students to walk up to their NGC table to learn more about the Millennium Development Goals and how they can be achieved. The team also sold Westwood High School themed Christmas ornaments, which was particularly creative because the team was able to tie in school spirit while also raising awareness for their cause! Plus, while doing these fundraisers, the team passes out flyers and posts posters all over the school to educate the students on the issues plaguing the world, as well encourage them to go to the NGC meeting to learn how change can be made. In the second semester, the team sold chocolate roses to raise even more funds and they aim to continue the donut sales throughout the rest of the semester. Even more astonishing, the team is planning a partnership with Westwood’s Junior Optimist Octagon International (JOOI), the world’s most dynamic coalition of youth volunteers, to help educate on the issues in today’s society as well as show students how their small contributions can make a huge difference.

Hopefully, all NGC teams are able to move forward this semester with new ideas that will call people’s attention to the concerns in the world. These teams show what hard work and dedication can create, and perhaps Tolleson NGC and Westwood NGC could inspire other NGC teams all over the country to find engaging new ways raise funds and educate their schools and communities!

This post was created by Team Mentor Ahmad Abujbarah, a Phoenix-based NGC alum and student

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New Global Citizens continues to grow year-by-year as students and teachers in schools all over the country become motivated to make a difference in the lives of others all over the world. Certainly, being a Team Mentor, I enjoy seeing what these high school students create in order to raise awareness and funds for their project. Their creativity and passion always inspires me to think outside the box with every one of my endeavors. To highlight some of the team’s accomplishments, three Arizona high schools, Westwood High School, Tolleson Union High School, and Franklin Police and Fire High School, show that they are dedicated to educating and transforming their communities and the world.

Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona was invested in educating the student body for their project, The Foundation for People with Disabilities in Ecuador. The team focused on educating themselves and informing their peers on the importance of supporting this project, so children with disabilities can obtain professional care, such as therapies, medical care, and language therapy. While doing this, the team also began raising funds for the organization by asking for donations and even having a donut sale at their school, helping them raise over $300. The motivation found in this team has made it an excellent example for how hard work matched with enthusiasm can create a lasting change.

Tolleson Union High School in Tolleson, Arizona is ending its first semester for its fourth year, and the team continues to raise awareness on its own project as well as educating about issues in other parts of the world. The dedicated team members, team leaders, and team sponsor all work together to create one of the largest and most successful clubs on Tolleson’s campus. The team has hosted an Awareness Week to educate the students and teachers on the Nirvanavan Project as well as the issues of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Universal Education, Gender Equality, Environmental Sustainability, among the list of MDGs. They also managed to raise about $100 from donations alone in that week. In November, the team hosted Documentary Night, showing the documentary Born to Brothels to highlight the issues of gender inequality as well as lack of opportunities for children in certain parts of India. Inviting New Global Citizen’s Executive Director Jennifer Vollman, the team had a large turn-out and proved that teenagers are more interested in making a positive change than many would believe. To end the semester, Tolleson NGC hosted its most popular event, Poetry Night. While allowing students to recite poetry and perform, the team has found a way to make educating and raising funds for their projects much more interactive. This Poetry Night had the largest turn-out since the event’s creation four years ago. With multiple events geared to educating and raising money, Tolleson NGC proves that high school students have the ability to get involved in global development if they are given the opportunity to create such change.

The final team Franklin Police and Fire High School in Phoenix, Arizona focused most of it attention on educating the team on global development and civil engagement. In November, the team attended a discussion at the Phoenix City Hall to discuss the importance of civil engagement. With this, the team educated itself on the importance of being involved in creating a safe and positive environment, both locally and globally, thus bringing better opportunities to all the people in a community. The team has also utilized its meetings to discuss the MDGs in depth as well as informing themselves on the how to find solutions for the issues all over the world. Thus, the team acts as an example for how simple awareness is the first step to making a difference in the world.

However, these are only three NGC teams, they show the basic characteristics of a strong and dedicated group. The teams try to make the work they do fun, and they enjoy learning more about the world as well as sharing that knowledge with the people around them. They will take these experiences with them in their future, and will continue to think outside-the-box when it comes to creating solutions for obstacles. I can only imagine what the next semester holds for these three teams and all New Global Citizens teams.